Families learn to live healthy at Keller health fair

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Posted on 07/21/2017

Tina Boothe of Keller came to the Back-to-School Family Health Fair July 19 at Bear Creek Park for a cooking class, but she and her daughters got a lot more.

Boothe and daughters Audrey, 10, and Chelsea, 9, picked up some free backpacks, visited with representatives from various local health organizations and ate free snow cones to get relief from the summer heat.

“I love to cook, but I’m seeing a lot of other resources for healthy living here, too,” Boothe said.

She was glad she brought her daughters along.

“It’s good for them to see how the community comes together to help each other,” she said.

Families finding resources

Dozens of families attended the health fair sponsored by the Stay on Track Coalition, Keller schools and the Keller Police Department to find local resources, attend the cooking class, participate in kids’ activities and learn how to help a bleeding accident victim.

Cynthia Velasquez, program director for the Stay on Track Coalition, hopes to make the fair an annual event. More than 50 community organizations and businesses offered information and give aways.

The Stay on Track Coalition aims to address substance abuse in the greater Keller area, Velasquez said, so some of the resources focused on safe use and disposal of medications.

Keller Police Officer James Intia was on hand to collect unwanted drugs and remind people that the Keller Police Department has a drop box for such items open to the public 24 hours a day.

Prioritizing a healthy life

Charter showed parents and kids attending the class how to prepare a black-eyed pea salad.

“Showing kids healthy cooking helps get them on track to a healthier path,” he said.

After the cooking class, John Peter Smith Hospital and the JPS Health Network offered a two hour course called “Stop the Bleed” to show bystanders what they can do to help a bleeding accident victim.

Ambria Mabry took time away from manning the booth for the Recovery Resource Council to sign the #LiveLongerBetter Pledge from the Fort Worth Blue Zones Project promising to make fitness, healthy eating, building relationships and other healthy practices part of her daily life.

She signed up with friends Rosaline Smith and Alyssa Flores.

“Having support is really important in prioritizing a healthy lifestyle and making good choices,” Mabry said.